Flower Princess
by Adamante
Summary: Sherry wanted to be Lloyd's friend, and Lloyd just wanted to be left to his work. While she tries to make sense of why he stays so distant from others, he tries to make sense of his own feelings towards the girl who refuses to leave him on his own. In the midst of all this, a confusing relationship forms. - Grand Bazaar, Lloyd/Sherry. Fiveshot.


**Well, a short story from me (about five chapters I'm planning to write) on a pairing that just don't get enough love.**

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**1. **_Princess_

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There were a lot of things Sherry understood well, and then there were the things that were complete mysteries to her. Some of these things being so confusing she doubted she would ever understand them and others being things that she gradually understood over a certain amount of time.

Lloyd was one of these things – the former, to be more specific.

He was a merchant who had just moved Zephyr Town recently and, unlike the other friendly and cheerful residents of the town, he was very reserved and mostly kept to himself. Kind of like Antoinette, actually, and even then, she would up and talk to Sherry on occasion. Unfortunately, Lloyd didn't do that very often, and whenever he did, the majority of his conversations was just him conversing with his customers.

Honestly, Sherry didn't know how to approach him and that was saying something, considering she was the one who managed to befriend Antoinette in spite of the girl's quiet and (she hated to admit this, but it was true) snobbish personality. Lloyd, thankfully, didn't think he was better than everyone else – that much, Sherry knew. He was just… so mature and stern and Sherry had never really been around someone like that before. Even Ivan, with his deep passion for learning and teaching and Freya, with her adult personality and seriousness when it came to her job, would sit back and joke with others once in a while.

Lloyd was not like that. He was aloof and was always concentrated on his job rather than the people around him – people who _could_ be his friends.

…Well, no matter. Even if everyone else didn't bother with befriending him, Sherry still would. She would show Lloyd that, yes, it was great to be successful… but none of that success really mattered when you didn't have people to share it with. She would be his friend and hopefully take his mind off of thinking about work so much (because really, was it even healthy to think so obsessively over one thing?).

When she told Dirk as much one day in the plaza, he responded with disbelief.

"Really, Sherry? You may have befriended Antoinette and all, but you think you can do that with Lloyd?" He frowned and looked over to where Lloyd was standing, talking with Marian. When he next spoke, he made sure to lower his voice so Lloyd wouldn't hear him. "I mean, I have nothing against him. Actually, I think it's pretty cool that he's all 'serious business' all the time. But you really think he'd make the time of day for you? He's pretty mature and on a whole other level from young folks like us…"

"You think so…?" Sherry replied, beginning to feel a little discouraged. She never did think of that… Lloyd _was_ a few years older than them – being twenty-three as opposed to Sherry's eighteen and Dirk's seventeen – so maybe that was why he was so much matured than they were. He was talking to Marian, though… but then again, Marian was _also_ older and maybe he felt like she was a fellow adult who could relate to him or something. "I… I never thought of that."

Dirk sighed and pat her on the shoulder reassuringly. "…It's okay, Sherry. I really like how compassionate you are towards other people. Maybe with that attitude, Lloyd will talk to you. I mean, who wouldn't? I'm sure he isn't stupid enough to reject you."

Sherry laughed. All of this sounded like Dirk was trying to encourage her to confess her feelings to the man, or something. If anyone heard what they were talking about without any knowledge of _what_ they were talking about, then they probably would have thought the same thing.

"Thank you, Dirk." She smiled and pat the hand that was on her shoulder. "You always were good at cheering people up."

"Uh, yeah, well… that's what I'm here for!" He laughed as he looked away from her and scratched his head awkwardly. "…But how are you gonna do it, anyway?"

"Approach Lloyd, you mean?"

"Yeah." He nodded once and turned back to look at her with an odd seriousness in his eyes. For all of his boyish qualities, Dirk could be strangely insightful at times. She wouldn't let Dirk know this, but maybe Ivan had been rubbing off on him, after all. "I mean, you can't just walk up to him right _now_, can you? He might get annoyed at you for interrupting his conversation."

Not what she expected 'gung-ho' Dirk to say, but it was true. She couldn't just walk up to him and intrude on his conversation; that would be terribly rude and she wasn't raised to be that way. But… there were no other times she would be able to see him. Whenever she did, he was always busy with the bazaar, or a costumer, or _something_ and she was afraid of how he might react if she distracted him from his precious work. So what was she—

"Hey, Sherry! Can you come over here for a second?"

"Huh…?" Shaken from her thoughts by the sudden yell, she looked to Dirk and he just shrugged, pointing towards the spot where Marian and Lloyd were standing.

"Marian's calling you over there." At this, he grinned. "Lucky, huh? I guess you've got your chance now!"

Yes, she did, didn't she? They – well, Marian really – were inviting her over there and including her into their conversation. She glanced to where they were standing and saw Marian waving enthusiastically and trying to get Sherry's attention, not wanting to yell again. Lloyd was just standing there, looking towards the café absentmindedly and not paying attention to the flailing woman beside him.

_So he doesn't want me over there, after all. _Sherry thought dejectedly. _It's just Marian who needs me, so Lloyd is just humoring her… I mean, just look at him! He looks so uninterested._

Disappointed, but not wanting to be rude, Sherry stood up from her seat and returned Dirk's encouraging grin with a small smile of her own before walking over to the two older adults, feeling a bit insecure in their combined presence. What could they possibly want from such a simple girl like her…?

As soon as she got close enough to them, Marian's smile got wider as she grabbed Sherry by the shoulders and gently pushed her closer to Lloyd. "Lloyd wants to show you something, Sherry! He was too shy to say so himself, so I did it for him."

The statement was followed by a giggle from Marian and an annoyed grunt from Lloyd. With a sigh, he turned his gaze from the café and to Sherry, looking at her in a way that made her heart skip a beat.

_He… Lloyd… wanted to show me something? _Sherry could feel herself smiling as all of her previous worries left her thoughts. _He actually notices me? Considers me enough of a friend to do something like this…?_

He stared at her and rose his eyebrow in confusion at her sudden smile. At this, she laughed awkwardly, hoping she wasn't coming off as weird or too eager. But still… how could she not be? Lloyd was acknowledging her, he wanted to show her something – though she didn't know what it was – and he wasn't treating her with disdain. It wasn't much, but it was a small step up for him and she felt relieved.

Maybe befriending him wouldn't be as hard as she thought, after all.

Lloyd still continued to give her that strange stare and cleared his throat, giving Marian a pointed look. "I am not _shy_, thank you. I just wasn't expecting you to call her over here all of a sudden."

Marian gave him a vague smile and crossed her arms. "Why wouldn't I? You said you wanted to show her, so why not now? She has been staring at you the whole time, you know –"

"Marian!" Sherry shrieked in embarrassment, glancing at Lloyd to see his reaction. He looked as indifferent as usual, but there was a definite change in his expression that Sherry couldn't place. "T-that's not true at all! Why would you say something like that?"

Marian giggled sweetly, putting on a placating smile. "Oh, I'm just kidding, Sherry. You're just so fun to tease."

Goddess… even if Marian was kidding, Lloyd is definitely going to think she's weird now. It wasn't like she had been_ staring_ at him… she was just wondering why he didn't talk to her more. Why, despite how much she tried to reach out to him, he never reciprocated any of her attempts at friendship. So no, she wasn't_ stalking_ him or anything like that… she just wanted to figure him out.

"…Anyway." Lloyd said sternly, cutting into the silence that had ensued after Marian's statement. He adjusted his glasses and dug through his pack, carefully taking out a beautiful white flower Sherry had never seen before. "This is what I wanted to show you, Sherry. It's a rare flower I found on my travels. You said you liked flowers, right?"

"…R-right." She said lamely.

He actually remembered that? She had just told him offhandedly one day, not really thinking too much about it at the time. She thought he wasn't either, but…

"Yes… well, here you go. I thought you might like it." He held the flower up and put into her hair, smiling slightly as he did so. "And see, it fits you. I don't know what else to do with it, so I think it would be best if you kept it."

"Uh… yes. Thank you, Lloyd." In spite of her embarrassment – _he just put the flower into my hair; it's so, __**so**__ beautiful and oh Goddess this isn't like Lloyd what's going on_ – Sherry smiled at him gratefully, fighting the flush that was threatening to rush to her cheeks. "I-it's really pretty and I'm honored you decided to give it to me."

"Yeah, you look really cute with it, Sherry!" Marian piped cheerfully as she gently grabbed Lloyd by the arm. "Don't you think so, too, Lloyd?"

Not expecting to be asked that, Lloyd blinked in bewilderment. He looked at Marian as if to say 'Really? You're asking me?' and the waitress just responded with one of her innocent smiles, causing Lloyd to sigh in defeat.

Sherry barely stopped herself from jumping in surprise when he suddenly turned his gaze to her, regarding her appearance thoughtfully. After what seemed like an eternity – but was really like a minute or two – Lloyd cleared his throat.

"Hmm… well, you look like… like a… flower princess. Yes, that's it. I think you look like a flower princess."

Marian raised a brow in confusion as did Sherry. A flower princess…? What was that supposed to be?

"What do you mean by that, Lloyd?" Marian asked, voicing Sherry's thoughts. "If that was supposed to be a compliment, then –"

"It was." He interrupted her but didn't say anymore.

"…I think I understand?" Sherry said slowly. "Princesses are… pretty, right? So that means I'm pretty – n-not that_ I'm_ saying I'm pretty, it's just… y-you know, if you say I'm a princess and all."

Marian stared at the two thoughtfully and hummed in amusement. "Oh, I see. Well, if that's what you were trying to say, Lloyd, you should have said it directly!"

Lloyd looked away from the two girls and opted to stare towards the café again. "Shouldn't you be getting back to work, Marian? It seems Joan is beginning to get angry."

And like clockwork, Joan's shrill voice could be heard from inside the café. "Marian! Dirk! Lunch break was over a long time ago…! I want to see you two back in here in the next ten seconds, or-"

"Oh, dear." Marian pouted as she put a hand up to her chin. "I suppose you're right. Grandmother does get fairly angry when she sees employees slacking."

"_One!_"

_Fairly?_ Sherry thought skeptically. _She sounds raving mad. I kinda feel sorry for Dirk now because I know he's going to get the brunt of her fury._

Sherry didn't know exactly _how_ she knew that, but she had a feeling Joan wouldn't punish Marian too harshly. The woman was just so… innocent! Plus, they were related. Dirk, on the other hand, could be quite a rambunctious little handful. Out of those two options, it wasn't very difficult to see who the favorite was.

"_Two!_"

"Marian…!" Dirk ran up to the three of them, a look of panic marring his usually chipper expression. Sherry had almost forgotten that Dirk had been sitting a short distance away from them the whole time. "We gotta go, now! I am not getting put on dish duty _again_ for being late to work!"

"_Three!_"

"Then shouldn't you be trying to get in there, then, before time is up?"

"_Four!_"

"Ohhh no. You're not doing that to me again. Last time I left you out here, Joan chewed me out for making_ you _late! I mean, did she _not_ see you out here leisurely having a cup of tea with Freya?! Why did I have to –"

"_Five!_"

"Come_ on_, Marian! I got something to do today and I am _not_ working overtime. I'm just _not_."

"Oh, fine. I wanted to stay a little longer, but since you seem to be so shaken up, Dirk, I guess you win." She took hold of his arm and curved her lips into an easy, but slightly unnerving smile. "Shall we go, then?"

"_Six!_"

Dirk laughed, but his expression was far from amused. "You… you really are a devil in an angel's body, aren't you, Marian?"

"Hm? I don't know what you're talking about."

"_Seven!_"

"But never mind that. We really have to be going." She turned to Sherry and Lloyd with a knowing look in her eyes that only Sherry seemed to catch. "I'll see the both of you later, then."

"Yeah, Sherry." Dirk said, regaining some of his previous composure. He looked at her sincerely and Sherry could already tell what he was thinking about. "You and me will talk after work, okay?"

She nodded in silent agreement and waved at the two as they began to walk away.

"_Eight…!_"

"Yeah, see you both later!"

Lloyd only tipped his head in farewell as Marian pulled an annoyed Dirk into the café with her, both of them making it inside just before Joan got to ten. Sherry sighed and shook her head at the antics of the two. For how they acted towards each other, Dirk was really close to Marian and Joan – Sherry knew that he considered them the sister and grandmother he never had. And because of this, she truly and honestly felt joy swell in her heart for her friend. After so many years of searching for himself – _the person he wanted to be; becoming more than Ivan's shadow; finding people who would understand him for who he was_ - he was finally able to find people who could understand him whenever Ivan, his own brother, couldn't. People who, no matter what happened, would be there for him whenever he needed it.

True friends. No… not only that, but _family_.

_And now,_ Sherry thought as she turned to the quiet man behind her. _It was time for Lloyd to find people who could understand him, too._

"Well, I have a job that I need to be getting to, myself." He said suddenly, glancing down at Sherry as he did so. "I'll see you around, Sherry."

She smiled to hide her disappointment and nodded. "Yes, see you."

With a nod of his own, he walked away, leaving her alone in the plaza. Confused and a bit happy at all that had happened that afternoon, she moved her hand to gently touch the flower in her hair and felt another swell of joy in her heart. Lloyd wasn't as bad as many people pegged him. He was quiet and aloof and kind of scary, but…

He was kind, in his own way.

_Yes. I'll be the one to help him to open up. I'll make sure of it._

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**A/N: Sorry for the wall of text...? It looked better in Word, I swear. o_O**

**Uh… well, I meant to make this a oneshot, but I think I'll make it into a four/fiveshot instead. I have more stories to tell about these two. *smiles* I never cared for Sherry and Lloyd before (and Lloyd is one of my least favorite bachelors in Grand Bazaar, strangely, considering I usually like the Gray expies) but after seeing their heart events, I developed an interest in them. Actually, I like just about all the rival couples in Grand Bazaar. Shame none of them get married. HM really needs to bring rival marriages back – it made the games more interesting.**

**On that note, does the newest HM have rival marriages? I haven't played or looked that one up yet. Hoping to get it soon, though.**

**Well, enough of my blabbering. Next chapter will be up soon.**


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